I guess the weather was too good to be true until now!I'm sitting here in my little Parisian apartment with a bag of candy by my side (surprise surprise) and some good ol' Backstreet Boys playing in the background (don't hate).
I've finally warmed back up after getting in from the rain. I ventured out earlier today to Notre Dame but once I got there, realized along with the other wet mobs of people, that the cathedral was closed. Womp womp.
Maybe they don't want wet tourists making a mess of it? Who knows. I parked myself in a café for the next few hours and stuffed my face with way more food than was necessary but the rain didn't let up so I just brought my wet, cold butt back home.
Anyways... Where to beeeeeeegin....???
Well for one, Paris is GORGEOUS! Shocker, right? Everything is seriously so picture perfect it makes me sick.
I got in last Sunday evening and my friend Nahla met me at the train station and made sure I didn't get lost finding my apartment. I rented a cute little studio in Central Paris (9th arr.) through airbnb which also happens to be just a few minutes away from an old high school pal of mine but I'll get into that in a bit. Luckily, with living in an NYC shoebox under my belt, adjusting to this space wasn't an issue. First night was low key, wasn't too hungry but was in dire need of a drink. Why wasn't I hungry after a long ass travel day, you wonder? Well let me tell ya. I had a stopover in Zurich on my way from Venice to Paris at which point I was severely famished. Tons of food options at the train station but I stuck with Burger King (don't judge me) because I wanted something quick. Now, I know Switzerland is known to be pricey but dear God $17 for a combo?? You've got to be shitting me! Anyways, that alone just made me so thankful I decided to cross Switzerland off my hitlist for this trip. Lawd that place would have sucked all the money outta me.
Anyways, sorry, got sidetracked. Back to Paris...
So yes, after getting situated in my apartment, Nahla and I went to a nearby café for a drink and small bite. They had the most deeeeelish warm goat cheese salad....Mmm how I missed goat cheese! A short while later, a girl sat a few chairs down from me and somehow we got to talking. She was from New Jersey and works between NYC and London and was in Paris for the weekend. Since she was alone and I all too well knew the feeling of eating solo, we invited her to join us. Not long after, a guy comes over and asks if he can join us; an American who was sitting a few tables behind us and heard us speaking English, so before you know it, it was a party! Okay not quite a party but you know what I mean :)
The next day I just wanted to make sure I was in Paris so ventured off to the Eiffel Tower. Yup, I was in Paris. Just walking out of the metro and seeing it in front of me left me speechless. I did the typical tourist shots and fair share of selfies and trekked over to the tower. Mobs of people everywhere of course but once getting to the park area, you could hear your own thoughts again and find a little serenity. I had picked up a baguette on my way (when in France) and enjoyed a nice little lunch with a pinch-worthy view:
Enough Tower pics yet? Sorry! After lunch, I strolled through the park and wandered in what was probably a very bougie residential area. All I could do was be a total stalker and try to look inside the gorgeous apartment windows. Don't act like you don't do it too!
I eventually made my way home and gave myself a pat on the back for not getting lost. Simple things.
Dinner plans were with Moshmi that night, an old friend from high school. We hadn't seen each other since we graduated so let's say like 14 years?? Yikes we're old but thanks to Facebook, we'd both kept up to date with key happenings in each other's lives. So like I mentioned, she lives just a few minutes away from my apartment and it was actually due to her advice that I picked this area to stay in. Anyways, we met on the steps of a nearby church (how European) and went to a café and did it up like real Parisians with some bread, cheese and wine. Gotta love not having ANY guilt with calling that dinner!
Mosh has lived here for 8 years now so was able to give me tons of insight on the city. Definitely helps having a local's perspective! We skipped dessert because she said the magic word. She said.... "Would you like to come back to my place for some chai?" Oh. Em. Gee words cannot explain the feeling I had inside. It had been over 2 weeks since the goodness of homemade chai hit my lips and my GOD it felt sooo good! It's really a miracle that I even survived that long without it and didn't either pull out my own hair or someone else's. Again, pat on the back for this girl.
My original plan was to stay in Paris for about 5 days and then head out elsewhere for the weekend and early next week but I decided to commit the nearly two weeks allotted to France in just Paris. Seems like a long time for just one city but I'm already nearly a week in and haven't conquered everything on my list yet. I've set aside some buffer days in case I want to do any day trips but either way, it doesn't look like I'll have any problem filling my days.
I've knocked off a lot of the main attractions: Eiffel Tower, Champs Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, Louvre, Notre Dame, île de la Cité and a whole lot of just wandering around.
Here are some pics from the week:
I soooo wanted to get some macarons from here but geez louise the line up inside was INTENSE!
Some good ol' drinking in the park
The next few pics are from Sacré-Coeur. The Basilica is in a neighbourhood called Montmarte and from what I was told, offered the most stunning views of the city. There were plenty of stairs to climb to get to the building which I was more than ready for after an intense week of hiking in Amalfi (did I tell you I felt like Superwoman after that week??). The steps to the Basilica were easy enough but dang those steps to get to the top of the dome were something else. Imagine a tiny spiral stairwell that seems to go on forever. I'll admit I had to stop a few times but holy moly the views were so worth it!!!
Words or photos cannot do those views justice so you'll just have to make sure to stop here when you're in Paris.
Some shots from the Louvre:
I have tons of photos from Louvre so I'll stop there but not before leaving you with a handy dandy tip.
Ready?
You don't need to wait in those ridiculously long line ups for a ticket. Nor do you have to pre-purchase one. Just make your way to Rue de Rivoli and use the entrance that reads "Carrousel". Go down the escalators towards the shops and you'll have two options. 1) use the automated machines in the atrium or 2) before hitting the atrium, there'll be a sign on the right that reads "Museum Pass". Follow that and it'll lead you to a little snack shop which sells tickets. The line up there is barely anything. I had 5 people ahead of me and before I knew it, I had my ticket in hand. Score!
Clearly this post is getting a tad on the long side so I'll just stick to a few highlights...
Last night, Moshmi invited me out to dinner with her friends but not before having another cup of yummy chai at her place. Her friends are a lovely group of people and just as inappropriate as my friends back home! Loved it! We had dinner at her friend Niko's restaurant called La Bigout and I devoured a yummy chicken burger and fries. Sidenote: I've eaten way too many burgers and fries for my liking in Paris! Apparently it's a huge fad these days so it's allowed, right?
Sales are seasonal here and they kicked off this week in Paris so I spent an afternoon attempting to do some damage. Key word: attempt. I went to Galleries Lafayette which is an insanely insane department store full of all kinds of national and international brands and designers. Let's get to the good stuff for a minute. The bottom floor of the store is a friggin 9000sqft SHOE SECTION! Nah, actually I can't even call it a section, let's go with SHOE PALACE! I've never seen anything like it in my life and truthfully, somehowwww I was overwhelmed by it. Me?? Overwhelmed by shoes??? Impossible, right? Sigh. Every designer brand you could imagine was in there but the responsible Ekta (wait what she exists?) showed up and I left with ZERO purchases. I guess I should give myself a pat on the back for that one too. I strolled through nearby streets and popped in and out of stores but no luck. This girl went home empty handed. No actually that's a lie. I came across a candy stall along the street. Redemption!!!
Update: all candies have been now been consumed. Noooo!!!! :(
Galleries Lafayette:
Let's see what else happened? OHHHH yes how can I forget this one....
I decided to watch the France vs Ecuador match at a nearby bar. There was a French couple sitting next to me and an American mom and daughter on my other side. A few tables down sat a man who when returning to his table from wherever he had gone had decided to stop and stare at me, so creepily so that the people around me all looked at me like WTF. He eventually sat back down but not without keeping his eyes locked on me. Awkwarrrrd. A few minutes later, Creepo decides to approach me at my table. He was speaking French and asked if I was alone to which I nodded. Big mistake. He then started to gesture for me to join him and I obviously declined. He kept going on about something that I could no longer understand but I was able to shake my head no enough for him to leave. THEN Creepo walks back over with a whole dang pizza and leaves it on my table! What. The. Shit? Again, I tell him I don't want it and that I already ate at which point the French couple jumped in and told him in French that I had indeed eaten already. That didn't stop him and he left the pizza with me and went back to his table but not before creeping out everyone around me too. The pizza sat there untouched when he came back. AGAIN. This time he seemed a little aggravated that I wasn't eating it. My creeped out level was now pretty maxed out but now he was going on about joining him for a drink to which I agaaaaaain kept saying no. He was getting more aggressive this time so the French couple told him I had already said no and to leave me alone. They were pretty concerned by this point. Creepo finally gave up and left the bar at halftime. After the game, the French couple left and I thanked them again for helping me and I stuck around chatting with the American mom and daughter. Literally half hour AFTER the game ends, Creepo came back!!! Effin hell. Walked right back to my table and started saying god knows what and then asked if he could sit with me. I don't know how many times I said no but he wouldn't move. He then tried to touch my face and that's when lost it and yelled "don't touch me". The mom was telling him to leave me alone as well but it took getting the waitress involved and escorting him out to finally end all that shit. The mom and daughter were sweethearts and insisted on walking me home and the waitress offered a bartender to as well but we watched him disappear in the opposite direction so was able to talk them out of it. I had a short 7min walk home with my keys sticking out of my knuckles. You never know. Luckily, there was no sign of him otherwise he would have gotten a nice stab in the throat.
That's the only ugly story I have from this trip so far, thank goodness.
Hmm what else is there...?
Oh ya, before all this crap happened, there was an older lady sitting across from me who put black pepper on her tiramisu. What. The. Eff??? Who does that?? Whyyyy??? I just can't comprehend.
Okay, no more stories.
However, shamefully, I have to admit that I have yet to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Don't ask why. Let's just go with the fact that it doesn't get dark here til nearly 11pm and I don't want to be wandering around alone at that time. I'll settle for checking it out at dusk though. It's definitely a top priority this coming week....Promise!!!
And last but not least, yesterday was by far the best day of my trip because my dear friend Johanna just had happy healthy Princess #2! Welcome to the world, Annabella Marie! Tia Ekta can't wait to spoil you rotten!
Look at those cheeks!!!!!!!
Anywaaaaaays, that's pretty much my first week in a nutshell. I haven't been overdoing it each day in order to keep from burning out. I have another week here so just enjoying Paris at an easier pace....it's the European way to do it, afterall ;)
Stay tuned for Part 2.
PS - Happy Canada Day Long Weekend!
PPS - it's STILL raining :(
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